So is this the Old Big East, or our basketball Big East? Can we use OBE and BBBE?

According to sources in the Big East, Arseco and company are planning on exploring the following moves.

1. Sell the name “”Big East”” to the basketball schools after getting some assurances from the NCAA that the cost of losing the Big East name will not cost them too much in the lucrative NCAA basketball tournament. If the name is sold to the new Big East, the old Big East will petition the NCAA to get a 32nd guaranteed spot for its champion.

Aresco’s contention is that a basketball league with Connecticut, Cincinnati, Memphis and Temple has a decent foundation to build.

2. Give East Carolina full membership (the original deal was football only) which would give the new league an Eastern group of Cincinnati, UConn, South Florida, Temple, East Carolina, Central Florida, Tulane and in 2015 Navy.

The Big East was changing every single day. There were nontraditional schools being invited and I’m pretty sure it just wasn’t in the best interests of them all. But we’re excited. We’re real excited about the direction. I don’t know what’s going to happen from here, I just know it’s going in a different direction. And Providence College has solidified itself as far as what we’re doing to be a powerful player in whatever league we’re going to be in.”

In the early part of the college basketball season, a lot of our time is spent trying to find signal amid the noise — be it the small samples of what our eyes see on the floor or what the numbers are saying. We’re seven games into the Friars’ season, and while that’s not nothing, it’s still not a great sample, especially considering the opposition PC has played this season.

Still, it’s enough information to try to make some determinations based on limited information. So, let’s play the famous icebreaker “Two Truths and a Lie.” I’m going to parse the information based on the games I’ve watched and what the stats are showing to determine two things that we’re seeing that are real and one that is not.

Truth No. 1: Bryce Cotton is the man.

It’s hard to convey just how good Bryce Cotton has been this season. This game log gives us some idea, but it doesn’t tell the full story. Get this: Bryce Cotton is sixth in the nation in Offensive Rating (through Tuesday’s games, courtesy Kenpom.com) among all players responsible for at least 28 percent of his team’s possessions when he’s on the floor. He’s one spot ahead of preseason All-Big 12 selection Pierre Jackson of Baylor and one spot behind preseason All-Big Ten selection Deshaun Jackson of Ohio State.

Replacing Vincent Council as the team’s primary ballhandler (and thereby becoming the team’s only ballhandler), Cotton has put up assist rates just slightly lower than Council’s last year while taking even better care of the ball than the Friars’ injured senior. (It’s only fair to note that Cotton’s competition has been much worse than what Council faced over the course of last season) He’s put up these performances while missing only two minutes of action in the six games he played, much like Council did last season (indeed Council only sat 10 total minutes in the 18 Big East games he suited up for). It’s probably just a mild exaggeration to write that Cotton has been a better-shooting version of Council.

However this is another one of those close and late situations that the Friars faced a number of times last year and could not close.

LaDontae Henton is a great player and he gave his usual max effort last night, as evidenced by yet another double-double. That said, regardless of what you think of the charge call, it was an off night for Henton offensively and the last possession should have focused on Cotton and Batts, and not Buckets.

This tournament will help the team adjust to life without Vincent Council.

Speaking of the suits, all of the players not eligible to play right now (Sidiki Johnson, Tyler Harris, Carson Desrosiers, and Ricky Ledo) did not make the trip with the team to Puerto Rico due to NCAA rules. This must be especially hard for Ricky Ledo, who is of Puerto Rican discent. The rest of the team and staff landed there today.

Still nothing new on Vincent Council’s hammy. He is going to Puerto Rico, but I highly highly doubt he will play. Sounds like he could be out for the next several weeks. I say play it safe and wait until the 2nd semester when Sidiki and hopefully Kris Dunn can play.

Henton started the second half with a quick lay-up to bring his point total up to 20. The Friars extended their lead to 10 points within six minutes of the start of the second half, their highest lead of the game. NJIT chipped away at the Friars’ lead and took the lead with a three-point basket from Chris Flores with 4:13 left in the game, 63-62. NJIT’s Flores finished the game tied his career high of 28 points. The Friars tied the game with a made free throw by Cotton with 2:19 remaining in the game. Cotton again was sent to the free throw line with 5.1 seconds left in the game. Cotton’s made free throw put the Friars up, 64-63. NJIT’s PJ Miller took a deep three at the buzzer that missed to give the Friars the win.

“I’m really happy with the effort of our guys today. We showed resiliency and heart,” said Highlanders Head Coach Jim Engles, who was selected as GWC Preseason Coach of the Year by College Sports Madness. “We also had great individual efforts by Chris [Flores] and Ryan [Woods] that put us in position to win the game.”

The dramatic finish overshadowed the performance of senior Chris Flores, who tied his own NJIT Division I record by scoring a game-high 28 points – the final three of which came on the 21-foot jumper that gave the Highlanders their first lead since holding a 27-25 edge in the first half. Flores previously tallied 28 points at Houston Baptist on Feb. 17, 2011, to tie the initial record set just five days earlier by Jheryl Wilson ’11 vs. South Dakota on Feb. 12, 2011.

Thanks to a solid defensive effort led by Cotton, Henton, Brice Kofane, Lee Goldsbrough and Kadeem Batts, the Friars had plenty of chances to put the game away…and yet could not come up with a clinching score on the other end. The final two points of the game were both scored by Cotton, from the free throw line in four attempts, to provide the winning margin. But just barely.

As such, the Friars opened their season with a win for the 11th time in the past 12 years, but it might have come with a price tag attached. Time will tell just how expensive that cost might be.

I spoke to Henton after the game, asking if he was ready to lead this team long term if Council’s injury forced him to miss an extended period of time. Henton told me that while he was a vocal player, and every player needed to contribute in Council’s absence, Vincent was the leader of this team, whether from the bench or on the floor and would continue to be regardless of the status of his injury.

Because of the hamstring injury to star point guard Vincent Council injury, Cooley says he’s holding an emergency walk-on tryout for a walk-on on Sunday at Alumni Hall. He’s hoping someone on campus played high school basketball, can handle the ball a bit and wants to help the cause this season. Right now the Friars have just one eligible walk-on (Ted Bancroft) and they need more.

“I just hope there’s somebody out there who had that dream of one day being on the team. That’s the guy I need,” Cooley said.

Honestly? Providence isn’t too scary even with Council, but a lingering hamstring injury suffered in the first game is the worst way for a senior year to get started, and it won’t help Ed Cooley’s Friars find a much-needed cohesive identity, either.

LaDontae Henton was terrific in the first half, scoring 18 of Providence’s 32 points, as the Friars led 32-29 heading into the locker room. Just how essential was Henton early? He made seven of Providence’s 11 field goals in the first 20 minutes.

It wasn’t a perfect afternoon for the sophomore, who missed on seven of his eight three point attempts, but he was perfect from the free throw line, finished with a team-leading 24, and made perhaps the defensive play of the game when he blocked an 18 footer with the game tied at 63 with 1:05 on the clock.

#1. Vincent Council

On the road to a potential All-BIG EAST First Team performance while breaking Vinnie DeGregorio’s all-time assist record at Providence College, Vincent Council will surely get his fair due of recognition in his final college basketball season. The question is, will Council be able to lift up and lead his teammates to more wins than the 4 BIG EAST games won in each of his first three seasons?

Stud stats: It was pretty amazing how Council held up despite being on the court for practically every minute of the season. With a much higher usage rate, VC got an assist on 43% of his possessions leading to 7.5 assists per game (4th ranked nationally, 1st in the BIG EAST). In nine games he had double digit assists, six coming in conference play.

Dud stats: Constantly driving at breakneak speed with not a lot of guys that can finish for you can have some drawbacks. Council’s decision making and carelessness sometimes led to games with large amount of turnovers. In the first three BIG EAST games, VC upt up 19 total turnovers. Overall he had 5 games where he turned the ball over at least 5 times, all resulting in PC losses. Additionally, Council didn’t have an all around great shooting year (29% from three, 39.1% overall).

Know your role: As the lone senior on the team who has by far the most game experience, Council is the leader of the team. The ball will be in his hands most of time, and the team will generally go as he does. PC now has several shooters capable of producing on offense, so Council will not be as pressured to carry the offense all the time. They just need to get open, and he will find them. One thing to watch this season is how Cooley uses him at the point guard position once Kris Dunn is healthy. If Council has improved his shooting, he can potentially play off the ball every now and then and be a lot less taxed towards the end of the season.

Relevant Tune: You Carried Us – Portugal. The Man.

You carried us all
Down from the stars
And up from the sea (Where everybody knew)
All you see, and all you hear
Is all you need, and all you breathe
While you create
And it’s in your mind

If Vincent Council was a TV Show: Fringe – In my opinion, one of the best shows out there. It’s very well received in the TV media community, but not everyone really knows about it. Sadly, it’s also in it’s last season but should go out with a bang.

Best case scenario: Council puts a stamp on his Friar legacy with tremendous all around season that leads to as many conference wins as the last two seasons combined. A vastly improved long range shot gives PC four players capable of consistently knocking down the shot, taking some of the pressure off of the front court. The addition of Kris Dunn in December allows Council to further grow his game, and helps him stay fresh March. The biggest part of the season for him comes at the Garden, where Council’s dominance helps PC win two BIG EAST Tourney games. First Team All-BIG EAST. Stats: 19 points per game, 8 assists per game, 46 FG %, 37% from downtown.

Worst case scenario: Council puts up strong overall numbers again, but shows some slight regression on offense to keep him from taking the step forward as the best in the country. His three point shot just doesn’t seem to click, and turnovers spurts keep the Friars from maintaining a consistent offense in BIG EAST play. Vince still needs to play 40 minutes per game, and he tails off towards the end of the season, culminating in another bad loss in the BIG EAST Tournament to close out his PC career. 2nd Team All BIG EAST. Stats: 39.999999 minutes per game, 16 points per game, 40% fg, 7.5 assists per game.

All the notable news, links, pictures, and video in and around Friartown and college basketball all in one digestible, tasty place

Bryce Cotton Animated GIF

Much like Obama, I’ve been here for 4 years but haven’t brought the necessary change I should have to Friartown. I just realized today that I have made zero animated gifs in the history of this blog. Things are going to change. Here is an Ice Cotton one for your pleasure. Thank you for voting Friarblog.

According to Brendan McGair on Twitter, Bryce Cotton was seen at practice putting up some shots. Sounds like he’s going to be ready to go on Saturday. See, the animated GIF is already working.

Word is Brandon Austin is possibly making a decision in the next few days. After Kevin McNamara’s article in the Projo and general whispers around Friartown, I like Ed Cooley’s chances (yeah I know the other day I said I wouldn’t care until an official announcement is made yada yada yada). Texas and UConn are the other schools on his final list.

As noted in my preview by-the-numbers on ScoutFriars.com, last season’s offense was better than average in the Big East, but it was also highly inconsistent, scoring at least 1.09 points per possession in seven conference games but less than 0.85 in six, including the Big East Tournament debacle vs. Seton Hall. The previous year’s team only went under 0.85 twice and over 1.09 three times.

The offense’s effectiveness was tied directly to its ability to make shots, and so Cooley often went with small lineups to get the best shooters on the floor, which included Bryce Cotton as a small 2 and LaDontae Henton as a small 4. This created more room for Vincent Council to penetrate and score or dish and for Gerald Coleman to get inside the defense. When either of those two shooters was off the floor, Providence was playing a non-scorer (Ron Giplaye or Brice Kofane) or a lane-clogger (Bilal Dixon) as well as Kadeem Batts, who had a very poor offensive season (more on that later). The big lineup might have been marginally better defensively, but it also compressed the offense and made it harder for Council to get his teammates good looks. Cooley sacrificed the defense in favor of the small lineup because his offense was simply not functional without all four of the key guys on the floor together.

The 2012-13 squad figures to have a lot of the same problems as last year’s team — lack of length, lack of depth, but maybe not quite the shortage of shooters. When looking at this squad’s offense, I want to focus briefly on the seven-man rotation that Providence figures to have for the first handful of games and then focus more extensively on the nine-man rotation we’re hoping it has for conference play.

Let us all do this collectively. BREATHE! DEEP BREATHS! It will be okay, I promise you.

Tonight is a perfect illustration of the harsh realities of having a roster without a lot of depth. While I’m sure Cotton would have played if this game meant something, this is typical of a team in complete rebuilding mode. While we wait on the approval or denial of Sidiki Johnson’s wavier request, the health of Kris Dunn, and the possible approval of Ricardo Ledo to play second semester, there will be growing pains.

Now, that does not mean I’m going to sit here and tell you to be optimistic and happy about what happened at the Dunkin Donuts Center last night. Last night, despite a 76-52 over the Rhode Island College Anchorman, was very disappointing in many aspects.

For the good and bad in statistics of last nights game, let us hit the CRUNCH!

2003 – The Last Time PC Lost an Exhibition Game at Home

This is actually amazing to think about, but the last time PC lost an exhibition game at home was coincidentally the same year they last made the NCAA Tournament. On November 15, 2003, the USDBL 320 All-Stars came to the Providence Civic Center and defeated the Friars, 112-109.

These games were also fun, when former collegiate stars would join together and challenge collegiate teams. John Morton (Seton Hall), Trevor Ruffin (Hawaii), and Devonaire Deas (Florida St.) all had big games for 320, while Friar legend Ryan Gomes scored 29 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

This game was back and forth down the stretch of regulation, and Gomes banked in a 3 pointer with one second left to send the game to OT. Back and forth it continued to go, but trailing by 3, Abdul Mills missed a 3 with two seconds left to tie the game.